UNITED need win to give them confidence for Champions League tie against Olympiakos says KENNY.

THERE is a real feeling of role reversal about tomorrow’s Manchester United-Liverpool game.

And from a Merseyside point of view it’s quite a good feeling.

It seems strange to be talking about how Liverpool mustn’t be complacent.

For much of the past two decades United have been favourites when the sides have met.

But this time the Old Trafford side are playing for pride and Liverpool are going for the prize.

The odds are United are not going to make the top four even if they win at home tomorrow. They are already too far back.

For them the main thing is a win would give them confidence for their Champions League tie against Olympiakos.

I think they’ll overcome that 2-0 deficit from the first leg and get through to the quarter-finals. But their best chance of doing that will be if they beat Liverpool and go into the game against the Greek league leaders on a high.

There has also been a lot of talk about how United’s motivation will be to spoil Liverpool’s run at the title.

Well, it would be disappointing if a team got more satisfaction from someone else’s demise than from what they had achieved themselves.

Liverpool fans are in a fortunate position. They have the Champions League to look forward to next season, whatever happens tomorrow.

United may get a bit of joy out of beating them but it won’t change much in the long run.

It may be the difference between Liverpool ending up third and fourth but they may be aiming higher now anyway.

They are in a rich vein of form at the moment. In fact, their form has been excellent all season.

A lot of people at Anfield deserve credit for what has happened this season and none more than Steven Gerrard.

The way he has adapted to his new role in front of the back four has been impressive. But then he would adapt to playing in goal if he had to.

This is a guy who ended up playing right wing-back in Istanbul and inspired Liverpool’s comeback.

The game will be a great advert for the Premier League too. Any match that pits Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge against Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie is a huge draw.

It has been a difficult season for RVP. He’s had a few injuries and it was always going to be asking a lot for him to repeat what he did last season.

But he’s got Rooney supplying the ammunition for him and that helps.

It should be a terrific game. There’s a lot riding on it for both teams but it’s more important for United than Liverpool.

They must go into the Olympiakos match in the right frame of mind. They have the most to lose.